1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a carrier for use in handling an integrated circuit component having a plurality of leads extending therefrom and in one aspect to a carrier having a resilient component latching mechanism and having the ability to restrict damage to the component in the event of a discharge of static electricity in its environment.
2. Background of the Invention
The increased number of leads on an integrated circuit device (an IC) and the increased use of automated handling equipment makes it increasingly important to provide carriers for an IC which will be easily opened by an automated piece of equipment and which will securely hold the IC in place on the carrier and free of displacement in the event the carrier is dropped. It is also important that the carrier can be opened and the IC removed for automated placement on a printed circuit board. The increase in the number of leads on an IC and the decrease in the size thereof make the formation of a carrier even more difficult. Also the fact that many an IC has the leads extending from four sides of the square or rectangular format of the IC, makes the carriers more difficult to make. Therefore, in order to provide a carrier which would provide the desired holding force on the IC, afford the easy opening for reception of the IC and the discharge of the IC for placement on a PC board, the geometry had to be optimized. Also, to make the carrier parts of a size that could be molded of a fiber filled polymeric material further compounded the problem, and existing designs of carriers were not suitable.
The prior art is replete with designs of carriers which incorporate spaced fins to separate and protect the leads and many prior art devices have latching mechanisms which afford the automated loading of the carriers. Illustrations of these latching devices for restricting movement of the IC in the carrier, include U.S. Pat. No. 3,409,861, which shows cantilevered beams holding overhanging clips: U.S. Pat. No. 3,652,974 which shows beams attached on two sides with overhanging clips and beam accepting apertures to hold a device in an un-stressed state; U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,505 which shows overhanging clips on cantilevered beams; U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,724 discloses overhanging clips on torsion members; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,053 describes cantilevered beams with overhanging clips.
These prior art devices utilize an amount of stress on the beams and molded parts which exceeds the stress or elastic deformation that certain members formed thereof can handle when compared to parts formed of unfilled material. Parts formed of a carbon fiber filled composite material or of fibers used to enhance the strength, thermal stability or dimensional stability also detract from the elongation properties of plastics.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a carrier which has the desired small parts and which will support the IC against movement in the carrier. It is a further object to provide a carrier which can be molded of a composite material to provide static dissipative characteristics and not have the parts too large to perform the IC holding quality recommended.